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DA Matters Scotland

SafeLives are pleased to be working collaboratively with Police Scotland to deliver Domestic Abuse (DA) Matters Scotland in preparation of the implementation of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act.

Over 130,000 people in Scotland live with domestic abuse every year with 68% of victims who access specialist support disclosing controlling behaviour and 56% physical harm. The police play a vital role in the response to domestic abuse - protecting victims and children and holding perpetrators to account. We need training for Police Scotland that is bespoke to the unique needs of Scotland, in particular around the new legislation and the operational application of it.

Having a better understanding of coercive behaviour will help me look for the tell-tale signs, and I will adapt my questions/conversation with victim to help identify possible coercive behaviour. I will be more open to looking at the bigger picture and to try to identify ongoing abuse instead of just dealing with one incident.

What is DA Matters Scotland?

DA Matters Scotland is a change programme that will allow us to train over 14,000 officers and staff in identifying controlling and coercive behaviour. The programme was written and developed by SafeLives and the College of Policing in response to HMIC findings around police officers' understanding of domestic abuse, and in particular, coercive control. DA Matters Scotland builds on the successful delivery of our DA Matters programme in England where we have successfully trained 10 police forces. It is bespoke to the unique needs of Scotland, in particular around the introduction of the new Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act in 2019.

The format of the programme

DA Matters Scotland will be firmly rooted in a gendered analysis of domestic abuse and will represent the experiences of women, children, men, LGBT people and the BME community. It will also include analysis of the tactics perpetrators use to manipulate victims and responders, as well as the impact of domestic abuse and coercive control on the whole family.

The training is much more than a one-off session. We will:

conduct a number of lead-in and follow-up tasks to guide the content and sustain change into the future.

create an interactive e-learning package that will inform every police officer and members of police staff in Scotland about the new legislation and what it means to them.

deliver a one-day first responder training session to over 14,000 officers and staff, which represents a significant percentage of the entire force. This will include many who come into contact with victims, perpetrators and children - including front counter personnel, staff who take emergency and non-emergency calls from the public, as well as control room staff.

train a further 1000 officers and staff who will go on to become DA Champions to embed practice and attitudinal change in the long term.

deliver training to the Strategic Leadership Board, Executive Level officers and staff to consolidate the messages at the highest level.

The training delivery model

There will be two different training sessions: one for First Responders and one for newly appointed Domestic Abuse Champions.

We will use a dual-trainer delivery model meaning that in every training session, we will have one trainer with a proven police background, and a local external domestic abuse specialist. Together, these two voices and perspectives in the room will maximise the impact of the training.

Can I offer my sincere thanks for what is one of the best training courses I have attended in almost 19 years! I acknowledge that this is one of my weakest fields as a Police Officer and the training well and truly 'reset' my attitude towards domestics. I found it really opened my eyes and changed my opinion and attitude which I think has become complacent over the years.